The 1997 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships were held in Geneva and Morges, Switzerland. The tournament was won by Canada, who won their record fifth-straight gold medal with a 2–0 victory over the United States in the gold-medal match. Mike York of the United States was the top scorer in the tournament, with five goals and five assists for ten points. The tournament all-star team selected upon the conclusion of the tournament included forwards Mike York (United States), Sergei Samsonov (Russia) and Christian Dube (Canada); defencemen Mark Streit (Switzerland) and Chris Phillips (Canada); and goaltender Brian Boucher (United States). Notable future National Hockey League (NHL) stars that played in this year's tournament included Joe Thornton (Canada), Daniel Brière (Canada) and Marián Hossa (Slovakia).

Round robin

Group A

Group B

Relegation round

was relegated for the 1998 World Junior Championships.

Medal Rounds

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

5th-place game

Bronze-medal game

Gold-medal game

Final standings

was relegated for the 1998 World Juniors

Scoring leaders

Goaltending leaders

(minimum 40% team's total ice time)

Tournament awards

Pool B

This tournament was played in Kyiv Ukraine, from December 27 to January 5. was promoted to Pool A, and was relegated to Pool C, for 1998.

Pool C

Played in Gheorgheni and Miercurea Ciuc, Romania from December 30 to January 3.

Preliminary round

Placement Games

was promoted to Pool B, and was relegated to Pool D for 1998.

Pool D

Played in Sofia Bulgaria from December 30 to January 3.

Preliminary round

Placement Games

was promoted to Pool C for 1998.